A blog about a Brownie Unit – Brownie Meeting ideas

Posts Tagged ‘Meeting plan’

It is December and we’ve been going pretty hard on program so it is nice that tomorrow night is our annual Christmas lights walk. (please don’t rain!)

Simple, easy, one activity meetings like this are nice breaks from the regular meeting plan. There is no badge work. We don’t have to accomplish anything. We just get to be outside. And then go to Tim Horton’s for a hot chocolate at the end.

Parents have been advised that girls must arrive dressed for the outdoors. We will not be going inside for the whole meeting. That means a trip to the loo first too! Wear winter gear, hats, mits, snowpants, boots, etc. Bring a flashlight that will fit in a pocket.

6:30 – Outdoor games in the field. We’re looking for something involving flashlights. Although Sardines is great fun. We’ll bring a whistle and make sure the boundaries are clear. Hm.

6:40 – Openings (Sparks are joining us).

Then Buddy Up: Girls are put into pairs. Then each pair is given a number. When Brown Owl yells “Buddy Up”, each pair must shout their number. We do this frequently – when we arrive at a new spot, or are about to depart an old one. We even get the adults involved. It just keeps everyone in check.

Quick rules intro: Stay with your buddy. Listen to adults. Stay on the side of the road. When a car approaches, stop and wait for them to pass. Don’t flashlight people in the face.

6:50 – Begin walk. There is a park on the way, so we try to have a game in mind so the girls can run (I have to think of one).

7:15 – Drop Sparks off at their school. (Brownie Guider jumps in her car to go ahead to arrange for Hot Chocolate – thus allowing Guiders to have a ride back to their cars after parent pickup!)

7:30 – arrive at Tim Horton’s (ubiquitous coffee shop in Canada)

8:00 – Parents arrive to pick up from Tim’s.

Easy, simple, fun meeting.

Could also work as Key to Active Living, Key to Camping, and Key to STEM (if there are stars).

I am looking forward to the end of the year (I always do), but I’m also always a little sad to see it go. If I’m honest, (and as much as I love Brownies) the best day of the entire year is the first Tuesday without Brownies – June 7 is so close!

We have one more regular meeting (tonight) and then next week is the End of Year Banquet where the girls advance.

Tonight’s plan:

6:30 arrival game (Girls Choose) – The went with Octopus.

6:40 Brownie Circles

6:50 Brownie Ring

7:00 Program

Brownie Memories – This is where we talk about the past year and make a Memory Book.

Memory Book template using the Pocket Mod idea (although the site was frustrating, it was fairly easy to figure out how to make it myself):

I made my own Pocket Mod that looks like this…Brownie memories – It really is a simple table printed on one sheet of paper. I made a template using PowerPoint… Click here for my end of year booklet template.

We’re running out of steam in the planning and this one was planned at the last minute. It was pretty successful though. Our theme tonight is Weather and Seasons.

6:30 Arrival – Freeze Tag! Easy and topical! The girls wanted it to be tougher so they made it Line Tag Freeze Tag.

6:45 Brownie Circle and Brownie Ring

7:00 Program

What kinds of weather are there? What we should wear for different seasons and weathers. Layers are always good. Frostbite, hypothermia, Heat exhaustion…

Skits: Talk about different sorts of weather, then get each girl to imagine that they are TV Weather Presenters. Each girl gets a sample forecast for a spot in the country. Snowy Owl looked at the news for different cities around the world for that day. They also got a map.

We gave them 10 minutes to prepare their forecast. Then each girl got to present. It was very good!

7:30 – Games – Snowshoe Relay. Then Leaf Blowing – we cut up leaves from scrap paper and each girl had to line up and blow it across the floor. Some girls were good at it, some weren’t. We suggested that those who were finished should encourage the rest – or even offer to help!

7:45 – Campfire – then Close – we talked about what we’re doing next week and then asked for requests for songs. We got Black Socks and Auntie Monica (there were others but we had time for two).

April 26 was all about plants. (Well, mostly – our games were not so plant oriented). We had two plants to plant in different ways, and one experiment.

Notes: I attribute the success of this meeting to (1) Planning and pre-cutting and sorting; and (2) Tall narrow freezer bags (not the zip tops, but the twist tie ones). Bags? Yes, Bags. By putting each project into a baggie after it was finished, it was possible to send the girls home with three separate projects without major spills or wobbly trays. These are the half quart sized – so narrow and tall.

Then we made Toilet Roll Flowers. This was one my Mom did with my Nephew a while ago. They turned out really well – we used one toilet roll per girl and I had paper clips to reinforce the glue while it dried.

And then outside for a park cleanup. Thankfully it was nice out and there was nothing too yucky in our local park. Everyone was given gloves, instructions to not pick up anything sharp, and then we just went outside for a walk till the end of the meeting.

6:30 Arrival Game – Going with Double Simon Says from Becky’s site. Our original plan was to try to do a matching game for Dress Right, but I can’t find anything online and it was a big job to make one. Does anyone have a matching worksheet for clothes to wear camping in different sorts of weather?

Hiking Safety – Never go alone, tell someone where you’re going and when you plan to be back, always bring a map, whistle, flashlight. Stay on trail. Don’t horse around. If you get lost, blow whistle and stay put.

7:05 – Skits – Separate girls into four groups. Tell girls to make skits based on the rules Brown Owl just reviewed. Our girls love to do it wrong, and then show how to do it right.

Announce that we’re going camping! Review Brown Owl’s packed bag and go over what you need at camp. Girls will get a copy of a Kit List

7:05 Ditty Bag Relay – a proper ditty bag includes

Cloth or net bag (no plastic – dishes drip dry in the bag)

Marked spoon, fork, and knife, plus a marked bowl, plate and cup.

This is a game I think we made up. We have three complete ditty bags with a few ringer items (ceramic bowl, a fork that isn’t marked with the owner’s name, an empty pill bottle (medicine is to be turned in to the medicine guider at camp), a toy, etc. The girls run back and forth making up a ditty bag. First group finished and approved wins.

7:15 Camp Planning round robin.

In three groups we circulate three topics. Girls must brainstorm on

What do you want to eat

What do you want to do

What do you want to bring

7:35 We have a tent set-up demonstration (Guiders bringing in their own tents – from storage – so hopefully my tent isn’t too funky)